Container enclosed ice chopper with spring retracted head



March 27, 1951 P. F. GEORGEINA ET AL CONTAINER ENCLOSED ICE CHOPPER WITH SPRING RETRACTED HEAD Filed June 19, 1947 IN V EN TOR. PAUL E GEORGE/IVA Patented Mar. 27, 1 951 CONTAINER ENoLosEn ICE CHOPPER WITH SPRING RETRACTED HEAD 7 Paul F. Georgeina, New ;Britain, and- Domenic P. M

Iezzi, Plainville, Conn.

Application June 19, 1947, Serial No. 755,772

1 Claim.

This invention relates to container enclosed ice chopper with spring retracted head, and more particularly to a chopper having a manually reciprocable head for cracking small quantitles of ice enclosed in a container for home use.

One object of this invention is to provide a device of the above nature which will reduce a piece of ice quickly to small particles with a minimum of effort on the part of the operaton Another object is to provide a device of the above nature having a crusher head adapted to be raised by springs, and wherein said head will also be resiliently held against rotation by said springs.

Another object is to provide a device of the above nature in which the springs are adapted to permit an initially high downward velocity of the head.

A further object is to provide a device of the above nature which will be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to install and manipulate, compact, ornamental in appearance, and very eflicient and durable in use.

With these and other objects in view, there has been illustrated on the accompanying drawing one form in which the invention may conveniently be embodied in practice.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view, on a vertical plane through the center of the ice crusher.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking upwardly.

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral indicates a horizontal surface such as a table, upon which afiat-bottom dish Il may be placed, said dish including an outwardly flaredrim l2 embracing the lower open end of an inverted tapered cup l3, provided with a flat closed upper end wall l4.

Mounted in a central hole [5 in the end wall I4 is a vertical guide bushing l6 coaxial with the cup l3 and having a threaded portion I! and an intermediate peripheral flange [8. The bushing l6 surrounds a slidable vertical rod l 9 rigidly connected toa crusher head disposed in the cup I 3 and provided upon its lower surface with a plurality of rows of pyramid-shaped teeth 2|.

The crusher head 20 is initially resiliently retained in the raised position shown in Fig. 1 by a plurality of coiled springs 22 having their ends secured in apertures 23 and 24 formed in the flange l Band the disk 20, respectively. The flange 2 I8 and the disk Zil are each recessed upon their adjacent faces, thereby forming a small depending circumferential rim 25 upon the edge of the flange I 8, and a large upstanding circumferential rim 26 upon the edge of the disk 20.

In order that the crusher may be manuallyoperated, a handle 21 is provided having a central tapped bore 21a in which the upper end of the rod 19 is fixed. The ice to be chopped is represented by the numeral 28, as shown in Fig. 1.

Operation In operation, the ice 28 such as a cube will be placed in the dish II and covered with the cup l3, to confine the ice within the rim of the dish I I. When the handle 27 is repeatedly struck by the operators hand, the crusher head 20 will reciprocate and the pyramidal teeth 2! will be very eifective in breaking up the ice.

It will here be noted that the coiled springs 22 are disposed at oblique angles when the chopper head is in its raised position. Consequently, the spring force will not have its full efiect in this position, the result being that the crusher head may be easily started downwardly when the handle 21 receives an impact. However, in the lower positions of the head, the springs 22 become more nearly vertical, thereby exerting a greater force capable of quickly reversing the movement of the *head 20, and raising it to its original position. This feature of the ice crusher has been found to enhance the efiiciency thereof.

Another advantage of the improved device is that the head 20 tends to remain in the same angular relation throughout its operation, and even though said head may twist about its axis, the springs 22 will tend to return it always to its original position.

A further advantage is that the lower end of the guide bushing l5 serves as a stop for limiting the upward movement of the head 20.

While there has been disclosed in this specification one form in which the invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that this form is shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosure, but may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. In short, the invention includes all the modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of the following claim.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

In an ice crusher, an inverted cup provided with NT OFFICE a centrally-apertured end wall, a vertical guide bushing secured within the aperture of said end wall, said bushing comprising a flange intermediate its length, said flange, abutting the inner surface of said end wall, a plunger comprising a rod slidable in said bushing and a crusher head located within the cup, said crusher head having an upstanding pjeriphera'l 1 rim of a diameter. larger than saidbushingflange', and a plurality 0Y1 clined coiled springs connecting said flange and said rim to resiliently urge said head against said bushing and tending to hold :thehead against rotation.

PAUL F. GEORGEINA. DOMENIC'P? IEZZT-f REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Chapman July 3, 1860 Armington* Sept. 26, 1865 Schafier l l. .-Jan: 4, 1887 Szigeti Feb. 14, 1922 Lawrence Dec. 12, 1922 Yeomans Nov, 17, 1936 

